Mean Streets

Students start the project by comparing their assumptions about road safety with real statistics on traffic accidents.

With the mayor kicking off the new Vision Zero project, a plan to reduce traffic fatalities to zero, road safety is a hot topic. But with bikes, cars, pedestrians, and buses all competing for New York City’s streets, how can we avoid fatal accidents? Where do we start?

In the Spring of 2014, Yelena Boroda’s Urban Studies class at the Academy of Urban Planning and Engineering, along with CUP teaching artist Aaron Reiss, set out to explore transportation safety in New York City. They saw a lot of unsafe things going on at the Myrtle/Wyckoff intersection in Bushwick, and wanted to know how to change them.

The class interviewed representatives of advocacy groups, people on the street, a Community Board district manager, and staff from the NYC Department of Transportation to find out who is in charge of transportation safety. The class made a booklet to show what they learned.

What People are Saying

“We made art because it’s an easy way to show a complex problem. When some people don’t get a problem they get it from visually seeing it.”— Jean Colón, student

“We got to go out and investigate further about the intersection by photographing, interviewing, and mapping. I have never experienced this kind of project in any regular classroom.”— Rosanny Peralta Lopez, student

“CUP infuses a classroom with a fresh energy, focus and excitement – which may seem goofy, but really can mean a lot. It’s a really wonderful opportunity to bring art into the classroom. It also gives the rare opportunity for class work to culminate in a glossy finished project that lives on outside the school in a meaningful way.” — Aaron Reiss, teaching artist

Funding Support

This project was made possible by the Bay and Paul Foundations, public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.